In 1999, Proctor & Gamble introduced us to Swiffer. A Swiffer can be best explained like a razor and blade sales strategy. You purchase the razor handle for a great price, and you’ll always have to pick up the refill for that exact handle and pay whatever price the company deems reasonable for as long as you choose to use the razor. A Swiffer follows the same sales strategy.
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So, does the Swiffer Sweeper Vac actually work??
Initial Thoughts — Build Quality — Weight / Size –
On the box, they show the sweeper picking up dirt, dust, pet hair and crumbs. They also show the vacuum picking up bigger pieces like cereal, leaves and crumbs.
We always like to test these claims out.
Battery Life
The battery life seems okay I guess — on the box it says the battery lasts long enough to clean up to 4 average sized rooms (10 sq metres). That’s all well and good — but it seems like I would have to charge the Sweeper VAC after I clean my tile and hardwood — just on the main floor of my house..that seems excessive.
Test
So I tossed crackers, cereal, pet hair and dirt on the kitchen floor and decided to give it a whirl. Now I know the dirt on the floor is a little excessive, but we wanted to put it to the test and see how well it would do.
The vacuum’s exhaust is right at the bottom which is a bit of a design flaw, as you can see the vacuum blasts air out and re-distributes that dirt.
Also, it couldn’t quite pick up dirt caught in the grout lines; it just pushed it around. Because the vacuum doesn’t have an open edge at the back (it’s blocked by the Swiffer pad) any dirt caught travelling backward after the forward stroke gets pulled back to square one, it’s kind of awkward and you can see a clear example of this during the action shots.
It could pick up light debris and trapped the pieces of dirt and crackers on the Swiffer pad. For bulkier pieces i.e. cereal, t needed some assistance. We were testing this for about 20 minutes total and the battery ran out of charge, that wasn’t great.
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VERDICT:
Does it work? Yes.
Does it work better than a broom? Maybe.
Is it worth it to buy it? Well, that’s debatable.
If you live in a small space, or if you just need something to quickly drag around the floor and pick stuff up — then yes, on the surface it seems like a good deal.
On the other hand, it’s $50 to buy the starter kit, another $40 for a year’s supply of refills and filters..and $40 the year after, and $40 the year after that year..
A good broom and dustpan set – $20 — the year after $0 — a good broom can last at least 5 years and save you almost $250 during that time
So, I guess it boils down to whether you want to spend 15 times as much to get something which isn’t quite twice as good..
Finally, there’s the waste factor — and I saved this for last, on purpose. The amount of waste produced by this product is staggering — I figure I would go through about 100 of these over the course of a year — and these end in the garbage, not the recycling bin.
So, it’s up to you — it’s not that this is a bad product — to me, it just seems to be a little unnecessary, and wasteful..I’d more than likely get a low budget vacuum and stick to a broom for my hard floor surfaces.
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[…] soaked with a cleaning solution that helps to lift dirt and debris from the floor. The Swiffer is pushed across the floor, and the disposable pads trap the dirt and […]
You can knit or crochet reusable filters for the pad. I picked my swiffer vac up at a thrift store, still works, and then had a few crocheted filters and I just wash and air dry. I’ve spent about $15 total on this rig.
I really like my sweeper vac. However it is not sucking up anything at this time. I have cleaned the filter but no help. I am having a difficult time getting a customer service number. I am open to any helpful suggestions
originally …years ago when first introduced the swiffer was GREAT…really worked…newer models are just awful……they pick up nothing but light weight fuzz …anything else …not so much…certainly not like my first ones back in the day…I have tried a couple new ones…thinking maybe I got a lemon…but no the new ones just all the same…..no good…….anyone with a suggestion/recommendation for a product that does as well as the original swiffer?….I don’t need a massie heavy duty product ….
Great you review you writing and video is very helpful. I think it will help someone to know details about swiffer-sweeper vacuum. Thanks for your valuable post.
Battery sucks, no pun intended…lasts long enough to vacuum one flight of stairs. Then takes hours and hours to recharge. Otherwise I love it! What is the problem in making the battery old a charge longer? Not rocket science…duh!
Love mine! Use it every day. Clean filter by hand, never have to replace. Battery life shortens over time. Who cares, one room at a time ok with me. Pet hair off floor, dust not broom swept into the air, allergies reduced. No question, great product.
I love this product. It is for lighter cleaning. I use it daily on my hardwood floors. It saves me an extra step requred using a broom and dustpan because The Swiffer Vac vacuums and dusts at the same time. It has certainly fit my needs. I absolutelely love this product.
Add to the cost the fact that the batteries don’t last that long. After less than two years, we are lucky to have it last 7 minutes without dying. This has happened to me twice, and both within two years.
I don’t have the swiffer sweeper but not the vacuum – we used it for a few months and decided we’d be better of with a mop. And yup the refills aren’t cheap and the expense does add up.
I love my broom and mop,im not one those dumb people to always buy wortless crap. Im a salesperson and I make a lot of money selling junk like this to gullible people.
well, if the battery dies you can always buy a replacement and save some money! sweeperbattery.com
Hey I know this i slate coming but if you still have that swiffer around or interested in a great deal on a replacement battery so you dont have to buy a whole new contraption….check this out! http://www.sweeperbattery.com/
Even though it doesn’t hold a charge long enough to suit me, I still couldn’t survive very long without my swiffervac. I use old cut up tee-shirts on the pad, and I’m just learning that you can wash the filters. As far as I’m concerned, brooms just spread the dust around, unless you have the kind of home where you can wet down the dirt before sweeping. I am 72, have dark floors and an almost white cat. I can swiffervac the worst of it in the time it would take me to get the regular vac out of the closet.
Thanks SO much for your comprehensive (and funny!) review. You’ve saved me $50 (well, $250?) that I will better spend on a real vacuum. 🙂